And it was a year in which Villaraigosa began to rebuild his public image after an embarrassing extramarital affair that led to growing criticism.

Still, he is facing what most experts see as only token opposition in his re-election bid next year.

"It is amazing to me, in a city of this size, that he's going to be re-elected by acclamation," said Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and the author of "The City: A Global History." "It's amazing that no major opposition in a major city has developed against him."

Kotkin and other critics give the mayor low marks for what they see as a lack of attention to detail. They credit him only for his follow-through on efforts to increase the LAPD by 1,000 officers, a goal that could be met in 2009.

David Diaz, a professor of urban policy at California State University, Los Angeles, says he believes the mayor has had a mediocre year.

"He hasn't really had a singular achievement," he said. "Even though he campaigned for Obama, I think most people will remember he was for Hillary. And she lost.

"He isn't really dealing with the city's fiscal crisis. I will give him that no one envisioned the economic problems we have and that has made it difficult to be proactive."

Villaraigosa brushes aside the critics, saying he has gone further than anyone predicted and laid the foundation for improvements in policing, education, traffic and the economy.

"Look at this city," he said, gesturing out his third-floor window at City Hall overlooking downtown. "You see cranes everywhere. People want to do business here. That's a sign the city is safer. Look at the Valley. People are staying here and building their lives here.

"People leave a city for three reasons: safety, the quality of their schools, the cost of their housing. We have made the city safer. We are working on the schools, and people want to stay here."

His active campaigning across the country for Clinton and, after her loss, Obama drew the most criticism this past year as he combined those events with his own fundraising. One newspaper, the L.A. Weekly, charted a period of his work then and concluded he only spent 11 percent of his time working on city business.

It's a story that still rankles.

"It didn't really go anywhere because it wasn't true," Villaraigosa said. "They were upset because we only gave them my public calendar. They didn't get to see what I was doing privately, with meetings here (at City Hall) or in other places.

"Everyone who knows me, knows I work hard. That's why both Sen. Clinton and Obama wanted me to campaign for them.

"And, I did most of that on weekends. I took a lot of red-eyes to make sure I was here."

He also defends his actions as mayor in dealing with the financial problems, in pushing major improvements in environmental programs, in getting more state and federal money for traffic programs, in filling 1 million potholes and, especially, in hiring more cops.

"One million potholes, that's a major achievement," he said. "The most any of my predecessors did was 250,000."

On the police, he points to the records of his predecessors and how he has stuck to the program despite the city's financial problems.

"I know there are those who say we can't afford it," he said. "I say we can't afford not to do it."

He is helped by the fact it is an election year in which eight City Council races willbe decided and no candidate would campaign on cutting the LAPD.

As busy as the year was with politics, it is the last two months that stand out in his mind.

"I was out there (at the scene of the Metrolink accident in Chatsworth) for 22 hours," Villaraigosa said. "People criticize me for being in front of the cameras, but I was there throughout it. Ask the firefighters who were there if they have ever seen anyone out there like that.

"That's the job. I was there because I felt responsible and to show my respect for the people working there, to be the face of the city."

It's not the job of the police chief or fire chief. It's the mayor's job.

"And, I tell you, I still think about it. Having to tell a parent they lost a child. To see people on the floor, wracked with emotion. It is not something you forget."

Even with what most consider a light field in the upcoming campaign, Villaraigosa said he is focused on re-election and will make his case to the people who he has delivered on his promises made four years ago.

"I said we would make this the greenest, cleanest big city in the nation and we've done that," Villaraigosa said. "We have already met the requirements of the Kyoto treaty, two years ahead of schedule.

"We are on track to hire 1,000 more police officers, ahead of schedule. ... And, the 'subway to the sea'? We made the case and in three years we got Measure R approved to pay for it. We did it when everyone said it didn't stand a chance."

Villaraigosa also points to the success of two other bond measures: $3 billion for community colleges and $7 billion for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

"When you look at it all, we have a $50 billion stimulus program here on our own," he said. "We have shown we have the willingness to pay for what is needed."

But Kotkin questions that assertion.

"This election was unusual in that you had such a high turnout of liberals," he said. "I can't believe that people voted for all these extra taxes. Los Angeles is now even more expensive to live in."

I think what we saw was an extraordinary situation where people who don't pay taxes or don't see it as something that affects them voted for all these things."

But, Villaraigosa said the measures received wide support - better than 67 percent.

"It's only in California that you could say something got 67 percent and squeaked by," he said. "That's a landslide level of support."

Perhaps the biggest question that will dog Villaraigosa - at least from the media - during the upcoming election is whether he will remain in Los Angeles or run for governor in 2010 when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is termed out.

Diaz questioned if Villaraigosa would be a viable candidate for governor.

"First off, he's mayor of Los Angeles, which is a strike against him in other parts of the state," Diaz said. "Second, his ethnicity. It only goes so far. And, third, there are formidable opponents with statewide name recognition who are out there."

Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former governor, is looking to run for the office again, and rumors continue to surround a potential run by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Announced Democratic candidates include Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

"I love this job," Villaraigosa said. "President Clinton once told me there are only five good political jobs in the country. President of the United States. Speaker of the House. Mayor of New York City. Governor of California. And mayor of Los Angeles.

"I have my focus on being mayor. I can tell you there's nothing I'd rather do right now than be mayor. To be really, really honest, I was criticized once because I made an iron-clad commitment (to stay on City Council) and circumstances changed ... and I ran for mayor.

"I'm not going to make an iron-clad commitment again. People may focus on that, but I can tell you all my energies, as they have been all four years, are focused 24-7 on my job."